Blue Collar Nation

Managing a Business Development Representative

Eric and Larry

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Building a strong referral network can be one of the most powerful ways to grow a service business—but it also comes with challenges many owners aren’t prepared for. In this episode, Eric and Larry dive into the realities of managing Business Development Representatives (BDRs) and why so many companies struggle to turn activity into real revenue.

The discussion explores common pitfalls business owners face, including avoiding accountability, confusing busyness with productivity, and trying to manage a role they’ve never performed themselves. The hosts break down how personality styles—especially highly social, relationship-driven reps—can create management challenges if expectations and systems aren’t clearly defined.

You’ll also hear practical strategies for setting revenue goals, building structured activity plans, and tracking the metrics that actually matter—from door knocks and meetings to bids, jobs, and revenue generated. The episode highlights why consistent measurement and clear expectations are essential to turning relationship-building into profitable growth.

Finally, Eric and Larry share real-world examples of persistence in business development, including how years of consistent relationship-building with the right referral partner can eventually turn into millions in revenue.

If you manage sales or referral marketing in a service business, this episode offers actionable insights on creating accountability, managing BDRs effectively, and building a referral engine that truly drives growth.

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Here is an entrepreneur's story you will relate to.

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Welcome to the Blue Nation Podcast, the podcast dedicated

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to making the lives of home service professionals better

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now join Eric and Larry

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to talk about all things home service.

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What's up everybody? Larry and Eric

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and everybody else here in the room live here.

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The simple for profit community.

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We're very happy that we are having the opportunity

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to bring some great content that Eric's gonna present

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to everybody, the people in the room,

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if you have any questions or anything while

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Eric's presenting, please contribute, share.

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That would be wonderful. And um, Eric, when you're ready

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to go, why don't you take the floor?

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All right. Thank you, Larry. Appreciate it.

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Thanks for everybody. See a lot of friends here.

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Uh, good to see everybody Wanted

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to talk today about managing business development

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reps, right?

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A lot of us, as we start to grow our business, we need

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to hire people to go find referral partners

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and knock on doors all day and go to chambers of commerce

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and BNIs and all the other things that guys like Larry had

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to do every single day, right?

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To grow a business and,

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and look, it is a wonderful way to grow a business.

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Yeah, if you can find referral partners that just use you

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for years and years, it, it's just an awesome way to grow.

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However, it comes to its own set of challenges,

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and a lot of those are kind of centered around the type

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of people who also like to do business development, right?

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So a lot of us who are owners

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or managers are very kind of TA task oriented a lot

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of the times, and very structured, very strategic.

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And some of the issues that Larry and I hear over

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and over is that just having a hard time getting their

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business development reps to do what they need to do

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or what they want them to do, right?

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Because for anybody who knows disc, you know, disc,

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most people who like to go meet people all day are kind

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of like high eye

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or is something like that, very people oriented.

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But Larry, what are the challenges

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with a high eye when it comes to managing them as a op,

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as a person who is a high eye opus

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and, um, accountability.

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Yeah. Yeah. Perfect. Thank you. Practice activity.

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So I'm giving you that lead in. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.

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So many owners

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and managers, they have a few things against 'em, right?

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So like, number one, a lot

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of them have never done this role themselves.

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So they feel maybe that they can't really manage it,

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or they, they're not qualified to lead that position

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because they've always been running work.

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And as the company grows, they hire people

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to go knock on doors

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and they're like, Ooh, I haven't knocked on doors.

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How am I gonna manage that person? Right?

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And of that, they avoid accountability, right?

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They, they let people kind of get away

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with everything, right?

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They let the reps, they let the reps kind

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of self-manage themselves

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and they confuse busy with productive, right?

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What Larry just said, like anybody that knows me well knows

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that I'm always saying, I wanna, I want accomplishment.

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I don't want activity, right?

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I want, I mean, activity's necessary for sure,

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but much more important than just the amount

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of work we do is what did we accomplish with the work

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that we're doing, right?

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So the result of all of those things is we have a lot

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of activity, and then we generally don't get the revenue

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to back that up, right?

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I hear that all the time. I've had this rep for a year

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and that person's brought nothing in yet,

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or nothing tangible yet, or whatever.

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And you know, really at that point, the conversation

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that we're having to have is you need

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to go look in the mirror

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and ask, how have you been managing this?

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And, and most of the time it's an issue of, oh yeah,

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I really haven't been, right?

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So, you know, the question that we have ourselves is,

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well then how do we do this?

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How do we do it well, right?

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So I think the first thing starts with expectations, right?

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What, what are we expecting from that person?

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Like what, what is a good

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year one revenue goal, right?

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We have to start with the end in mind.

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What's the goal, right?

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So restoration industry, um,

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first year business development rep,

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that's probably somewhere 250,

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$300,000 in revenue in the first year, to be honest, most of

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that's probably gonna happen in the

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second half of the year, right?

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'cause they're gonna be stopping every

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month at different places.

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And plumbers and property managers

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and all those places takes a little while

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to get known, right?

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And then we're gonna work into that.

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Look, carpet cleaning would be a different number.

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If you were, you know, a remodeler

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or HVAC company, you have to figure out for your industry.

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And I'm, I'm sure any industry's association would know what

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that number would be, right?

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Every, every, every trade. Slightly different, right?

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So the point is, we need to begin the end

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with the end in mind, right?

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And how do we get that business development rep going?

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Well, the first thing is we have

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to have a good job description for that person so they know

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what their day and their week

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and their month should look like.

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They know what the goal is,

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and then that rep is, at the beginning,

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they have no book of business, right?

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So what do you have? You have time

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and you have effort, right?

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We wanna see high levels of activity.

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We want to see you knocking on lots of doors, going to lots

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of meetings, lots of phone calls, lots of emails, right?

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Because if we don't have clients

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and we don't have revenue coming,

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and we've gotta, we've gotta build that through high,

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high levels of activity, that's not gonna be forever

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because you're gonna start getting work.

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And then we're starting to head into maybe a little bit of,

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um, time with, you know, some account management as well.

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But while we're building our book of business,

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that's gonna be on the back of a lot of hard work

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and making a lot of connections, right?

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And, you know, as that rep matures

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that, you know, kind of level of raw

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activity's gonna go down a bit,

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because now they have clients

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and they have things that they're, they're managing as well,

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and they're gonna have more relationships with the clients

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that feed them work.

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So they're gonna be going to lunch with them,

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they're gonna be spending more time with them.

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They're gonna be answering questions and,

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and being of service to the clients

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that are already referring us.

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So that level of raw activity is probably gonna come down a

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bit, but the level of actual accomplishment is going

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to go up because we're adding value, right?

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So, you know, the thing that Larry

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and I, you know, we used to do a rotation where

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the reps would go knock on doors Tuesday through Thursday,

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Tuesday through Friday,

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because we learned nobody likes

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to be interrupted on a Monday when they're trying

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to get their week going and we're knocking on a door, right?

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So we used Mondays as prep. That's when we had our meeting.

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That's when we were doing role play.

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That's when we were working on scripts.

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That's when we were going over everybody's

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data, everybody's numbers.

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That's when they were preparing for the week,

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getting all the trifolds and the business cards and the pens

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and the food that they gave away, right?

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I want all that done on Monday

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because that way we can hit the ground Tuesday morning

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and be making stops for the rest of the week,

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like full bore, right?

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So in that, you know, I mentioned a meeting on Monday,

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what are we going over?

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This is the management equation, right?

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How many stops did we make?

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How many phone calls did you make?

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How many breakfasts or lunch and learns

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or lunch meetings did you get?

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Right? How many probe meetings

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or discovery meetings did you get

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with a decision maker, right?

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We're, we're judging these things we're, we're kind

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of climbing up the ladder of just knocking on a door

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and giving away donuts to

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how many meetings are we getting, right?

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How many chamber events, how many BNIs?

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And then into the raw data, how many bids did you get?

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How many referrals called you for work?

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How many bids did we do? How many of those turned into jobs?

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And what was the revenue from those jobs?

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I'm going to track all of that information

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because whether I have one rep

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or 10, we're gonna be,

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we're gonna be managing those expectations based on

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your data, right?

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And look, public accountability's good for all of us.

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I, I'm a firm believer in that,

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but a lot of times, I mean, Larry,

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you can chime in here if you want.

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Like a lot of times you'll see people,

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they're just working really hard and I'm doing that in air.

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They're working really hard, yet they don't see and black

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and white what their numbers actually look like.

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So they might have this false sense

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of like, I'm killing it out there.

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Like, I'm working really hard

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and I'm beating all these people.

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But then as they come into my office

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and I'm pulling up a computer screen

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and showing them like, actually,

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I'm glad you're working hard, but we don't have any bids.

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We don't have many jobs and we

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don't have much revenue from this.

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So how can we help you get to that point?

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Larry, if you, have you ever felt that way yourself

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or, well, that, that was when I was going

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around doing the business development activities, you have

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to be intentional about your stops

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and who you're visiting and talking to.

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And you have to know if that person

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is translating those visits are translating to work with

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that person at that company.

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And you have to track if things are coming in, if most

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of your visits are thanking them

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for the work, that's a good thing.

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But you wanna make sure the jobs are a decent size.

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I mean, if you're getting small jobs, 10 small jobs,

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say a month, for example,

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and they're all $200 job, that's not great.

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Versus the guy down the street that gave you one job

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that was $50,000.

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You wanna be giving the other guy,

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other guy just as much attention.

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But you have to look at the potential of

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that site that you're stopping to.

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I mean, you know, there was a plumber in Wrench Cucamonga

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that I stopped to sea for years,

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and once it translated,

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it translated into million dollar a years from

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that particular referral source.

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Millions. So, yeah, millions.

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But, but you

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and I consistently had to have the conversation,

243
00:10:43.125 --> 00:10:45.065
should you keep going back there?

244
00:10:45.125 --> 00:10:48.835
And then as we looked at their size, yeah,

245
00:10:48.865 --> 00:10:49.875
that makes sense, right?

246
00:10:49.875 --> 00:10:52.635
Because if we can get it, it's so worth it.

247
00:10:53.235 --> 00:10:54.395
I mean, if I'm not mistaken,

248
00:10:54.595 --> 00:10:56.315
I think you went there every month for two years

249
00:10:56.895 --> 00:10:58.715
before you got your first job, roughly.

250
00:10:58.905 --> 00:11:02.265
Yeah, it turned into, excuse me, quarterly

251
00:11:02.815 --> 00:11:04.185
that I was seeing them, but I was still

252
00:11:04.745 --> 00:11:06.145
visiting them on a regular.

253
00:11:07.305 --> 00:11:09.165
And the feedback I was getting was

254
00:11:09.165 --> 00:11:10.325
always good when I was there.

255
00:11:10.465 --> 00:11:11.645
Hey, it's nice to see you.

256
00:11:11.645 --> 00:11:13.985
It wasn't like they're going, yeah, whatever. Yeah.

257
00:11:14.385 --> 00:11:15.465
'cause the feedback you get

258
00:11:15.935 --> 00:11:19.145
that comes into differentiating if you should be going

259
00:11:19.145 --> 00:11:21.265
or shouldn't be going, and the conversations

260
00:11:21.265 --> 00:11:24.425
and the presentations, you all were happy to be like, yep,

261
00:11:24.485 --> 00:11:25.985
yep, we're using somebody.

262
00:11:27.035 --> 00:11:29.695
I'm just waiting for the other guy to, to screw up.

263
00:11:29.835 --> 00:11:31.255
And that's exactly what happened.

264
00:11:31.315 --> 00:11:33.745
The other company screwed up.

265
00:11:34.325 --> 00:11:36.505
We were that company sometimes that screwed up

266
00:11:36.645 --> 00:11:37.705
and lost the contract.

267
00:11:37.705 --> 00:11:39.345
So you gotta be on the ball once you get 'em,

268
00:11:39.805 --> 00:11:41.225
but you gotta be ready to

269
00:11:42.975 --> 00:11:45.365
catch the ball when somebody drops it.

270
00:11:45.965 --> 00:11:47.345
And that's pretty much what happened.

271
00:11:47.725 --> 00:11:48.745
It was a wonderful thing.

272
00:11:49.245 --> 00:11:50.705
So, you know, it's a lot of differentiation.

273
00:11:51.025 --> 00:11:55.295
A long answer to a little question. That's true.

274
00:11:56.085 --> 00:11:57.135
Okay. Uh,

275
00:11:57.345 --> 00:11:58.575
let's talk about training our

276
00:11:58.775 --> 00:11:59.815
business development reps, right?

277
00:11:59.815 --> 00:12:02.175
Because it's not fair for us to just hire somebody

278
00:12:02.235 --> 00:12:04.655
and throw them out there and say, go get 'em, tiger.

279
00:12:04.805 --> 00:12:06.135
Good, good luck, right?

280
00:12:06.715 --> 00:12:07.815
As leaders or,

281
00:12:07.955 --> 00:12:10.255
or managers, it's on us to make sure

282
00:12:10.255 --> 00:12:13.095
that they have the training they need to be as successful

283
00:12:13.095 --> 00:12:14.815
as they possibly can be, right?

284
00:12:15.595 --> 00:12:20.295
So my experience has been most of the people that I coach

285
00:12:20.515 --> 00:12:23.215
or that we're friendly with, and Larry

286
00:12:23.215 --> 00:12:24.775
and I know a lot of people in the trades,

287
00:12:25.845 --> 00:12:27.655
there's usually too little management

288
00:12:27.675 --> 00:12:28.815
and too little training

289
00:12:28.835 --> 00:12:31.055
for most business development reps, right?

290
00:12:31.165 --> 00:12:33.935
It's the, it's the thing that just gets pushed to the side

291
00:12:33.955 --> 00:12:37.375
and says, oh, we'll go deliver some candy or, or whatever.

292
00:12:37.675 --> 00:12:39.935
But that's not really what gives us our result, right?

293
00:12:39.935 --> 00:12:42.455
We have, like Larry said, we have to be intentional, right?

294
00:12:42.555 --> 00:12:43.615
So, you know,

295
00:12:43.675 --> 00:12:46.415
I'm gonna train at least every week on Monday, right?

296
00:12:46.435 --> 00:12:49.655
For sure. I'm gonna spend a portion of that time.

297
00:12:50.955 --> 00:12:53.855
And, uh, sorry, we got a,

298
00:12:54.135 --> 00:12:56.295
a question from Ronald when you're referring

299
00:12:56.295 --> 00:12:58.095
to business development reps.

300
00:12:58.095 --> 00:13:00.775
So you're talking about salesmen, actually, not really.

301
00:13:00.825 --> 00:13:02.775
We're talking about referral marketers, right?

302
00:13:02.795 --> 00:13:05.295
So somebody like, let's say for a restoration company

303
00:13:05.915 --> 00:13:08.215
who would go to property management companies

304
00:13:08.435 --> 00:13:13.115
or go to, um, plumbing companies, um,

305
00:13:13.265 --> 00:13:15.435
yeah, Wendy has an HVAC company,

306
00:13:15.575 --> 00:13:17.595
so she might be talking about some of her business reps

307
00:13:18.025 --> 00:13:19.475
that they're going to B and i

308
00:13:19.935 --> 00:13:21.435
or they're going to visit property

309
00:13:21.435 --> 00:13:22.755
managers to get work, right?

310
00:13:22.755 --> 00:13:25.315
Or someone else they're trying to get work. Yeah.

311
00:13:25.415 --> 00:13:29.155
So like, not real, like not really salespeople, right?

312
00:13:29.155 --> 00:13:31.915
Salespeople, I would think like an HVAC more like a comfort

313
00:13:31.915 --> 00:13:34.675
advisor who's going into homes or, or businesses

314
00:13:34.735 --> 00:13:38.995
and actually putting together a bid and, and getting sales.

315
00:13:39.105 --> 00:13:42.115
This is more like going into a property management company

316
00:13:42.255 --> 00:13:45.435
and getting them to refer your company over and over, right?

317
00:13:45.615 --> 00:13:48.675
So I I I consider that more marketing than sales.

318
00:13:48.915 --> 00:13:51.075
I mean, I guess there's a sales element to get them

319
00:13:51.095 --> 00:13:54.235
to use you, but I would say more marketing, right?

320
00:13:55.295 --> 00:13:57.115
So in my training, what am I gonna do?

321
00:13:57.145 --> 00:13:59.235
Well, I'm gonna role play every single week.

322
00:13:59.385 --> 00:14:02.195
It's a non-negotiable. It's always gonna happen, right?

323
00:14:02.195 --> 00:14:03.355
Because we get better

324
00:14:03.455 --> 00:14:05.795
by doing role play over and over and over.

325
00:14:05.935 --> 00:14:08.035
So it just becomes second hat, right?

326
00:14:08.655 --> 00:14:11.675
I'm gonna have scripting so that we're saying, you know,

327
00:14:11.675 --> 00:14:13.555
whether I go or whether Larry goes,

328
00:14:13.615 --> 00:14:15.715
or when Ashley, one of our reps goes,

329
00:14:16.245 --> 00:14:18.195
we're all saying essentially the same thing.

330
00:14:18.195 --> 00:14:19.875
They're getting the same message over

331
00:14:19.875 --> 00:14:23.195
and over so that we know what works and what doesn't.

332
00:14:24.055 --> 00:14:27.195
I'm gonna be practicing doing presentations like lunch

333
00:14:27.215 --> 00:14:29.675
and learns or, or bringing coffee in

334
00:14:29.695 --> 00:14:33.155
and how we're gonna do some sort of educational piece.

335
00:14:33.155 --> 00:14:34.635
We're gonna practice those things.

336
00:14:35.445 --> 00:14:36.875
We're going to, we're gonna practice on

337
00:14:36.875 --> 00:14:37.955
how to stand out, right?

338
00:14:38.535 --> 00:14:40.995
You know, Larry would always go in with a pineapple

339
00:14:41.375 --> 00:14:43.475
and his fedora on, right?

340
00:14:43.505 --> 00:14:46.475
That stands out. And like, that wouldn't work for me.

341
00:14:46.575 --> 00:14:48.875
But I, I had other things I did to stand out.

342
00:14:48.875 --> 00:14:50.915
Ashley had things she did to stand out.

343
00:14:51.065 --> 00:14:54.605
Justin had things he did to stand out figuring out

344
00:14:54.605 --> 00:14:56.885
for each personality type, Hey, what can make

345
00:14:57.505 --> 00:14:59.685
you stand out from the other 20 people

346
00:14:59.685 --> 00:15:02.405
that are gonna show up in that office that week, right?

347
00:15:02.715 --> 00:15:04.525
Like, this is theater on some level.

348
00:15:04.525 --> 00:15:06.485
There's no getting around that there.

349
00:15:07.195 --> 00:15:09.125
What materials we're gonna leave behind?

350
00:15:09.985 --> 00:15:12.725
And then my trainings, I'm gonna make it fun, right?

351
00:15:12.865 --> 00:15:14.365
I'm gonna make it enjoyable so

352
00:15:14.365 --> 00:15:17.005
that we wanna train every week, right?

353
00:15:17.465 --> 00:15:20.645
I'm not gonna just be like, oh, just figure it out, right?

354
00:15:20.795 --> 00:15:23.645
Like you, you'll figure it out. People don't figure it out.

355
00:15:23.645 --> 00:15:25.445
They, they do better when there's a program

356
00:15:26.145 --> 00:15:28.645
and that takes some effort upon us, right?

357
00:15:29.345 --> 00:15:31.645
And then really, you know,

358
00:15:32.775 --> 00:15:34.385
what are we managing, right?

359
00:15:34.405 --> 00:15:38.265
So like for me and our company, I was, Larry

360
00:15:38.605 --> 00:15:40.705
and his team were out there doing the work

361
00:15:40.885 --> 00:15:43.985
and I really was only involved on Mondays with the training

362
00:15:44.005 --> 00:15:47.425
and the managing and the strategy and all of that, right?

363
00:15:47.445 --> 00:15:48.865
So what are, what are we managing?

364
00:15:49.235 --> 00:15:52.345
We're managing location, you know, like where are they?

365
00:15:52.985 --> 00:15:55.865
Right? Or, you know, I'm tracking you on a GPS to make sure

366
00:15:55.865 --> 00:15:58.225
that you're not at the gym for four hours a day,

367
00:15:58.225 --> 00:16:00.345
which we've had people do, right?

368
00:16:00.725 --> 00:16:02.265
And you know, like we, we need to make sure

369
00:16:02.265 --> 00:16:03.865
that we're, we're doing the work.

370
00:16:04.525 --> 00:16:07.425
I'm gonna track revenue, I'm gonna ma make sure that

371
00:16:07.425 --> 00:16:08.465
that is in thing.

372
00:16:08.885 --> 00:16:11.945
I'm gonna track relationship quality, right?

373
00:16:12.055 --> 00:16:16.025
It's easy to get really kind of crummy,

374
00:16:16.725 --> 00:16:19.385
you know, relationships that don't really yield anything.

375
00:16:19.465 --> 00:16:21.505
I wanna make sure that the reps are taking their time

376
00:16:21.525 --> 00:16:22.825
and energy going after

377
00:16:23.565 --> 00:16:26.185
and making relationships with people who are good

378
00:16:27.245 --> 00:16:30.465
and, uh, um, you know, are gonna give us the work

379
00:16:30.575 --> 00:16:32.385
with the kind of people that we want to do.

380
00:16:33.205 --> 00:16:35.585
And then, you know, strategic thinking

381
00:16:36.645 --> 00:16:37.825
and then professionalism.

382
00:16:38.055 --> 00:16:40.305
What that looks like is not everybody really knows what

383
00:16:40.305 --> 00:16:42.385
that looked like in some sort of big inter

384
00:16:42.965 --> 00:16:44.185
big picture understanding.

385
00:16:45.005 --> 00:16:46.825
And Kevin, you're, you're, you're,

386
00:16:46.825 --> 00:16:48.265
you're one step ahead of me, right?

387
00:16:48.315 --> 00:16:50.705
We're going to finish up with the pain, right?

388
00:16:50.805 --> 00:16:52.225
So Kevin said, address the pain

389
00:16:52.645 --> 00:16:54.025
and he's a hundred percent right.

390
00:16:57.675 --> 00:17:00.365
He's not, he's not wrong. Look, I, I can say this.

391
00:17:00.905 --> 00:17:04.865
Um, I think, I think

392
00:17:05.985 --> 00:17:07.945
managing business development reps is one

393
00:17:07.945 --> 00:17:10.545
of the hardest things to do in a home service business.

394
00:17:10.545 --> 00:17:11.625
And I think a lot of it is

395
00:17:11.625 --> 00:17:12.905
because a lot of us

396
00:17:12.925 --> 00:17:14.745
who are in management positions aren't really

397
00:17:14.875 --> 00:17:16.265
wired very well for it.

398
00:17:17.005 --> 00:17:21.905
And, you know, the, the pain is,

399
00:17:23.815 --> 00:17:26.615
I think a lot of times comes from the type of person

400
00:17:26.755 --> 00:17:29.135
who likes to do this, right?

401
00:17:30.415 --> 00:17:32.555
And oh, Kevin's talking about the sales part.

402
00:17:32.625 --> 00:17:34.235
I'll get to that, Kevin. Um,

403
00:17:35.295 --> 00:17:37.985
but we talked about disc.

404
00:17:39.115 --> 00:17:42.045
Part of the pain for me was everybody in that room in

405
00:17:42.045 --> 00:17:45.365
that department was a high eye, meaning they loved people,

406
00:17:45.475 --> 00:17:47.045
they wanted to be with people.

407
00:17:47.715 --> 00:17:50.605
They loved fun, they loved a good time.

408
00:17:51.505 --> 00:17:54.405
And the purse that they would feel secondary

409
00:17:54.465 --> 00:17:58.405
or like to kind of avoid was the strategy, the, the,

410
00:17:58.425 --> 00:18:02.045
the being on time, the professionalism, all the, you know,

411
00:18:02.045 --> 00:18:03.685
the follow up, all of that stuff.

412
00:18:04.425 --> 00:18:08.205
So we had to create systems around that to make sure

413
00:18:08.205 --> 00:18:10.005
that we weren't just spinning our wheels.

414
00:18:11.115 --> 00:18:13.335
And, um, and then lastly,

415
00:18:13.575 --> 00:18:15.695
'cause I know we're, we're, we're not gonna go too too long

416
00:18:15.745 --> 00:18:19.175
today, but Kevin's a hundred percent right?

417
00:18:19.995 --> 00:18:21.375
You know, what are we doing

418
00:18:21.395 --> 00:18:22.975
as business development reps, right?

419
00:18:22.975 --> 00:18:27.685
What are our people doing? Their only job is to add value.

420
00:18:28.465 --> 00:18:30.845
But to add value, you have to get the person

421
00:18:30.845 --> 00:18:32.925
that you're talking to to understand

422
00:18:33.835 --> 00:18:36.045
that there's a problem, right?

423
00:18:36.115 --> 00:18:38.805
Because if Larry walks into a plumbing company

424
00:18:39.665 --> 00:18:42.885
and they have no problems with the current company

425
00:18:42.885 --> 00:18:43.885
that they're working with,

426
00:18:43.985 --> 00:18:46.445
or like, there's not much to talk about, right?

427
00:18:46.445 --> 00:18:47.645
They're not gonna make a change.

428
00:18:48.225 --> 00:18:51.965
But as we all know, with every relationship in business,

429
00:18:51.965 --> 00:18:53.445
there's almost always problems.

430
00:18:53.665 --> 00:18:58.485
And I'm going to really drill down on like,

431
00:18:58.955 --> 00:19:00.205
what are your pain points?

432
00:19:01.075 --> 00:19:05.205
What are those things look like? Here's how we can help you.

433
00:19:05.575 --> 00:19:08.445
These are the things we do to overcome those, right?

434
00:19:08.445 --> 00:19:09.725
Because at the end of the day,

435
00:19:10.225 --> 00:19:13.565
people will only switch if they think you add more value

436
00:19:13.635 --> 00:19:16.015
than the previous company, right?

437
00:19:16.075 --> 00:19:18.775
So I have to get very good at convincing somebody

438
00:19:18.845 --> 00:19:21.935
that the work that we do, the way that we do it,

439
00:19:22.515 --> 00:19:26.375
our reputation, our systems, are going

440
00:19:26.375 --> 00:19:29.015
to be an improvement over the company

441
00:19:29.085 --> 00:19:30.415
that they were using before.

442
00:19:30.755 --> 00:19:31.815
And look, I'll be honest,

443
00:19:31.995 --> 00:19:33.855
and I Larry, let me just finish this point.

444
00:19:33.875 --> 00:19:35.055
You can talk all you want.

445
00:19:35.405 --> 00:19:39.555
Like I got so many people to use me just

446
00:19:39.615 --> 00:19:41.395
by asking questions.

447
00:19:41.465 --> 00:19:44.315
Like, okay, so you're happy with all of these things.

448
00:19:45.175 --> 00:19:48.515
Is there anything about that company that used that maybe

449
00:19:48.585 --> 00:19:50.915
that they don't do that they,

450
00:19:50.945 --> 00:19:52.355
that aren't, you aren't happy with?

451
00:19:52.355 --> 00:19:53.835
Right? So like, I'll use an example.

452
00:19:54.515 --> 00:19:57.195
A lot of companies wouldn't do crawlspace work

453
00:19:57.655 --> 00:19:58.795
in Southern California.

454
00:19:59.255 --> 00:20:02.395
I'd say, great, can you gimme a shot doing crawlspace work?

455
00:20:02.395 --> 00:20:04.595
Well, what's gonna happen? I'm gonna get the work

456
00:20:04.595 --> 00:20:06.195
that the other companies might not want

457
00:20:06.775 --> 00:20:08.435
and I'm gonna go try to wow them.

458
00:20:08.615 --> 00:20:11.275
So now, alright, I'm the crawlspace guy for them.

459
00:20:11.335 --> 00:20:13.555
And then guess what? The other company starts screwing up

460
00:20:13.555 --> 00:20:16.155
and they're starting to call me about the, the the work

461
00:20:16.255 --> 00:20:17.435
inside the house, right?

462
00:20:17.935 --> 00:20:20.235
I'm gonna get my foot in the door somehow.

463
00:20:20.855 --> 00:20:23.275
We gotta train our team to do that too. Larry, go ahead.

464
00:20:23.275 --> 00:20:27.205
Sorry. So a lot of it when I was out there, you try

465
00:20:27.205 --> 00:20:29.405
and solve business problems with them as well,

466
00:20:30.305 --> 00:20:31.525
not just related to

467
00:20:31.525 --> 00:20:33.445
what you're gonna be doing for them specifically.

468
00:20:34.025 --> 00:20:37.325
So if you see them showing with a problem with a technician

469
00:20:38.065 --> 00:20:41.675
or they can see that their trucks are looking bad

470
00:20:42.215 --> 00:20:44.035
or you can see that there's a lot of confusion

471
00:20:44.095 --> 00:20:46.715
or the person that answers the phone isn't being friendly

472
00:20:46.815 --> 00:20:49.365
and nice or you just ask him, Hey,

473
00:20:49.365 --> 00:20:50.765
so what's going on with your business?

474
00:20:50.765 --> 00:20:53.845
Do you have any particular challenges in your business

475
00:20:53.845 --> 00:20:54.925
right now that I can help with?

476
00:20:55.435 --> 00:20:59.085
Because we do a lot of business coaching.

477
00:20:59.225 --> 00:21:00.685
We, we are good at many things.

478
00:21:00.745 --> 00:21:02.045
We might be able to help you with this.

479
00:21:02.625 --> 00:21:05.965
And that's what I can offer them.

480
00:21:06.205 --> 00:21:07.565
'cause we did a lot of business coaching

481
00:21:08.265 --> 00:21:11.405
and I would say, yo, so how are your operations going?

482
00:21:11.535 --> 00:21:12.565
How's your sales team?

483
00:21:13.185 --> 00:21:16.285
How is your uh, CSRs working and trying to address?

484
00:21:16.335 --> 00:21:19.245
Larry, you, you used to call me in like we'd, we'd go,

485
00:21:19.245 --> 00:21:20.645
you'd be going to a plumbing shop

486
00:21:21.425 --> 00:21:24.445
and then you'd start asking those questions

487
00:21:24.625 --> 00:21:26.205
and you'd say, oh, what do you need help with?

488
00:21:26.205 --> 00:21:27.685
Oh, my sales isn't good. Great.

489
00:21:27.785 --> 00:21:29.925
Let me get Eric in and we'll do a two hour

490
00:21:29.935 --> 00:21:31.125
sales course for your guys.

491
00:21:31.615 --> 00:21:33.805
Right? Yeah. We used to do disc training for,

492
00:21:33.945 --> 00:21:36.525
for their teams to get along better, right?

493
00:21:36.545 --> 00:21:38.565
If you have something to add that's even

494
00:21:38.665 --> 00:21:41.125
beyond the actual service that you provide,

495
00:21:41.235 --> 00:21:45.285
like Larry's saying that could be a huge in for you.

496
00:21:46.795 --> 00:21:49.735
You know, if you look for things that you can be helpful

497
00:21:49.735 --> 00:21:51.255
with, I mean you're looking on the wall

498
00:21:51.315 --> 00:21:52.655
for the sports team that they like.

499
00:21:53.075 --> 00:21:56.735
So you can bring 'em a hat from the Dodgers or the Phillies

500
00:21:56.735 --> 00:21:58.015
or whatever and that's always helpful.

501
00:21:58.795 --> 00:22:01.395
But you, you know, if you see that they have pictures

502
00:22:01.395 --> 00:22:03.875
of kids, you bring 'em in something for their kids

503
00:22:04.865 --> 00:22:07.685
or something, you know, that's going to make a connection

504
00:22:07.685 --> 00:22:10.405
and then you try and hit their pain like, like uh,

505
00:22:10.635 --> 00:22:11.685
Kevin's talking about

506
00:22:11.905 --> 00:22:15.285
and how can you help them if you see that they're struggling

507
00:22:15.285 --> 00:22:17.145
with their team?

508
00:22:17.845 --> 00:22:19.625
Are they managing well or they're leading well?

509
00:22:19.625 --> 00:22:21.665
There's only so many things in business

510
00:22:22.595 --> 00:22:24.205
that you're gonna have trouble with

511
00:22:24.205 --> 00:22:25.725
and you're gonna ask them and you're gonna be able

512
00:22:25.725 --> 00:22:27.885
to address that with them and give them insight.

513
00:22:28.695 --> 00:22:33.355
And usually you being the outside viewer, it's easier

514
00:22:33.735 --> 00:22:36.395
to see a solution and them being right in it.

515
00:22:37.205 --> 00:22:40.585
That's where that adds an awful lot of value.

516
00:22:41.345 --> 00:22:42.965
So I wanna finish on something.

517
00:22:42.985 --> 00:22:45.835
We have a course on business development.

518
00:22:45.935 --> 00:22:47.155
I'm not trying to sell a course in,

519
00:22:47.155 --> 00:22:50.855
but if anybody would like the sampler,

520
00:22:51.375 --> 00:22:52.855
I give like a taster of the course.

521
00:22:52.955 --> 00:22:54.895
It has a lot of value actually.

522
00:22:55.415 --> 00:22:56.655
I can share that with everybody

523
00:22:57.635 --> 00:22:59.695
and if you want to get more information on this,

524
00:22:59.715 --> 00:23:00.775
we could do another topic.

525
00:23:00.775 --> 00:23:01.935
There's a lot of people here.

526
00:23:01.995 --> 00:23:04.495
So this topic must have addressed people.

527
00:23:04.815 --> 00:23:06.375
I took a lot of pictures of everybody.

528
00:23:07.475 --> 00:23:09.455
So I'm gonna try and email everybody afterwards

529
00:23:09.515 --> 00:23:10.535
if you want information.

530
00:23:11.375 --> 00:23:13.235
But if you want something, send it to me, Larry,

531
00:23:13.255 --> 00:23:14.475
at super tech you.com

532
00:23:14.475 --> 00:23:17.795
or put it in the chat, send me something, I'd be happy

533
00:23:18.095 --> 00:23:20.995
to share any type of information

534
00:23:21.095 --> 00:23:22.715
or I can put it on Facebook.

535
00:23:23.595 --> 00:23:25.395
Probably most of the people here aren't on Facebook.

536
00:23:25.395 --> 00:23:26.395
That's why they're coming in.

537
00:23:27.235 --> 00:23:30.955
Um, I'd love to uh, you know,

538
00:23:30.985 --> 00:23:32.755
support Super Tech University.

539
00:23:33.785 --> 00:23:36.225
Somebody said a Zoom user. I don't know Christine,

540
00:23:36.385 --> 00:23:37.945
I don't know who that Zoom user was.

541
00:23:38.045 --> 00:23:40.025
You said thank you. What's your name? Rash.

542
00:23:40.175 --> 00:23:41.465
I'll get something to you. Thank you.

543
00:23:42.645 --> 00:23:44.985
Um, and I'd be happy to share something with you.

544
00:23:45.545 --> 00:23:49.325
So Blake, wonderful. Scott Hedy.

545
00:23:49.325 --> 00:23:51.645
Okay Scott, I can get things to you guys as well.

546
00:23:52.905 --> 00:23:57.405
And anybody else email me at um, Larry Ek University.

547
00:23:57.405 --> 00:24:00.645
If you decide later on we got a Zoom user says yes please.

548
00:24:01.325 --> 00:24:06.165
I don't know who you are. What is the name? Jacob.

549
00:24:06.295 --> 00:24:09.195
Jacob. Oh, Jacob, of course. All right.

550
00:24:09.215 --> 00:24:11.315
Anyway, we've gotta lay on this plane

551
00:24:11.595 --> 00:24:13.235
'cause we've got a couple other appointments.

552
00:24:13.745 --> 00:24:15.155
It's wonderful seeing everybody

553
00:24:16.125 --> 00:24:19.315
and um, it's a pleasure as always.

554
00:24:19.375 --> 00:24:21.955
Yep. So everybody have a great week. We'll talk to you soon.

555
00:24:22.035 --> 00:24:23.035
I hope we'll see you next week.

556
00:24:23.525 --> 00:24:26.595
Thank you for listening to the Blue Colon Nation podcast.

557
00:24:27.375 --> 00:24:29.875
For more information about Eric and Larry

558
00:24:30.015 --> 00:24:31.515
and Super Tech University,

559
00:24:31.895 --> 00:24:35.155
please visit us at super tech u com.

560
00:24:35.385 --> 00:24:39.235
That is Super Tech u the letter u com.